Offense:
14

Defense:
15

Utility:
1

Introduction

Hey, this is Lautemortis, the jungler for compLexity, and I'm going to teach you how to body slam your opponent in their eventual explosive CASKET. They should enjoy the extra comfort while they wait to respawn at base. There is only one jungler who can make this happen, jungle Gragas (aka JGrag).

Gragas has extremely early pressure in the jungle with his Drunken Rage. It gives an additional 30 AD at rank 1, basically 2/3's of a BF sword. This is one of the best bruiser abilities in the game. Even if you choose an AP JGrag build, you still play like a bruiser early. Do not be afraid to 1v1 ANYONE (except Volibear cause his passive is OP for dueling).

Pros / Cons

Pros

+ Gragas has extremely high early pressure in the jungle from Drunken Range
+ Fits well with teams that benefit from early aggressive and counter jungling
+ Flexibility to build Tanky or AP and can fit in a variety of team comps

Cons

- Falls off late game if he does not snowball from strong early game
- Some players dislike non-standard champion picks and may harass you (ignore them)

When to Pick JGrag

As you know, JGrag has strong early game pressure due to the steroid from his Drunken Rage ability. JGrag fits well with teams that will benefit from early aggression and counter jungling. Because JGrag can be built as a tanky bruiser or an AP jungler, he is able to fit in a variety of team comps.

For JGrag, I use hybrid penetration marks as Gragas deals magical damage with his abilities but also does a considerable amount of damage with his Drunken Rage auto attacks. For seals and glyphs I take flat armor and magic resist for the tankiness (JGrag needs to get close to be most effective). Finally, I take two flat attack damage quints and one hybrid penetration quint for the additional damage.

Masteries

I prefer 14/15/1 masteries on JGrag. Go into the offense tree to get points in both physical and magic damage penetration. As Gragas is a bruiser, I put the majority of my points into the defense tree for additional tankiness. I also take one point in utility for the cooldown reduction on Flash.

Regardless of whether you choose to be a bruiser JGrag or an AP JGrag, these runes and masteries will help you snowball early game by complimenting Gragas's early game dominance.

Core Items

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x5

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As I have been mentioning, JGrag can be built a couple of different ways. You will always want to start with a Hunter's Machete and five Health Potions. Because JGrag is so strong early game, you will want to make sure you get Boots of Speed as soon as possible. Spirit Stone is great for JGrag because it gives him a little extra sustain and allows him to clear the jungle with ease. At this point you will need to decide if you want to be a bruiser JGrag or an AP JGrag.

AP

AP JGrag will want to rush a Catalyst the protector into Rod of Ages (this is the core item for any AP JGrag, the sooner you get this built the stronger you will be). Morellonomicon is a great item on JGrag because it gives useful stats for JGrag and is very cost efficient. Rabadon's Deathcap is also a good choice due to the fact that Gragas has great AP ratios on his Q and R. At some point you will also want to upgrade your boots into Sorcerer's Shoes. By this point in the game, you will probably want a Void Staff to penetrate the opposing team's magic resistance. Finally you can upgrade your Spirit Stone into a Spirit of the Ancient Golem for some tankiness and CDR.

AD

If you choose the manly bruiser JGrag, your build path is quite different. Instead of a Catalyst, you will want to rush Locket of the Iron Solari followed by a Spirit of the Ancient Golem. If you find yourself needing some magic resistance, a Runic Bulwark will provide you and your team a lot of effective health. In most situations I would upgrade my boots into Ninja Tabi (Spirit of the Ancient Golem will provide tenacity). Additionally, Randuin's Omen or Spirit Visage are strong armor and magic resistance items respectively to finish out a bruiser JGrag build.

Abilities

Ability Sequence

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

Happy Hour (Passive)

Gragas's passive is relatively effective for jungling. While you have blue buff feel free to use your Body Slam to roam around the map while triggering Happy Hour for sustain.

Barrel Roll (Q)

Barrel Roll is a signature ability of Gragas. However, as a JGrag, this ability is not that useful to us early game. Take this ability at level four, then max it around level twelve. Keep in mind that this ability also slows the enemy's attack speed significantly. If you choose to go AP JGrag this ability has strong AP scaling and will be a large source of your damage. If you choose bruiser JGrag you will find this ability most effective for its attack speed slow.

Drunken Rage (W)

This is THE JGrag ability. Not only does this ability provide an amazing attack damage steroid (30 AD at level 1, aka 2/3rds of a B.F. Sword), but it also reduces all incoming damage by a flat percentage and restores mana. The brawling power that this ability provides allows JGrag to be a bully 1v1, so max this skill first until at least level seven.

Body Slam (E)

This ability provides JGrag with high mobility and a gap closer in fights. Because of the low cooldown of this ability, JGrag can move across the map with ease, proccing his Happy Hour passive for sustain as well. Put just one point in this ability at level two then max it last as additional points in Body Slam only increase damage.

Explosive Cask (R)

Explosive Cask has both high base damage and high AP scaling. If you choose to be an AP JGrag, this ability can be used to put out tons of damage. As a bruiser JGrag this ability will still do some damage, but can be used more effectively as a displacement spell. Try to use Body Slam and/or Flash to catch your opponent's off guard and knock an out of position player into isolation for a free kill for your team.

Early Game

JGrag is all about the early game. One strong way to start the game is at your wraith camp. After wraiths, head immediately to red buff. At level two, with red buff and a point in W and E, JGrag is a 1v1 monster. Try to catch the opposing jungler unsuspecting in his jungle (at his red buff or even his blue). If you can get the jump on the enemy jungler (and his name isn't Volibear) you should be able to earn yourself an early kill.

Jungle Routes

I love to start Red on Gragas, and invade the enemy junglers second buff camp (so if the enemy jungler starts blue you head to their red, and vice-versa). Use Drunken Rage at 1:29 so it'll come back up in time for the red buff! Smite that sneaky lizard, and start heading towards the enemy buff, you can use the positioning of the midlaner to guess where the enemy jungler started (this is by no means failproof, but if you want to go for an aggressive play its the best hint you'll get). If they start blue while you do red, you'll need to get all the way to their red buff, this means you may need to hustle to get to the second camp!

Use your Drunken Rage before you walk into their jungle, and try to fight and chase them through their jungle. Even if mid lane responds you can easily maneuver through the jungle with Body Slam and Flash and escape. Your early game relies on shutting down the enemy jungler and forcing them into 1v1's they can't fight using your AD and slows! If you manage to kill their jungler or burn their flash staying in their jungle to force your advantage is a very good idea! If you aren't able to steal their red or kill them, head back to your own blue, your smite should be back up by now!

Mid / Late Game

Hopefully, you abused JGrag's strong early game to snowball an advantage for your team. Depending on what build you decided to go, your role in this stage of the game will be somewhat different. AP JGrag can be a strong poke champion, while bruiser JGrag soaks damage for his team and generally needs to be brawl in melee range to be most effective. Try to catch the enemy team with Explosive Cask.

AP

On AP JGrag your goal is to poke down the enemies with your high damage Barrel Rolls! Using your ultimate for poke is a good idea when several of them group. Try to spam your Drunken Rage every time its off cd! Use your high mobility to get in position to poke high priority targets, and if you get in trouble you can use your ultimate and body slam to get you out of the heat!

AD

Your goal with Tank Gragas is to be a moderately damaging bruiser with excellent disruption on your ultimate to isolate enemies. Your ultimates placement is more crucial to Tank Gragas than it is to AP, as you need to position the barrel to knock priority targets away from their protectors! CDR is a very useful stat as your passive is able to help sustain your high HP vaules!

Conclusion

Thanks for reading my jungle Gragas guide. Best of luck in the Field of Justice with your new inebriated friend!

League of Legends is a team based, real time strategy game set in a mythical world of swords & magic where epic battles decide the fate of mystical nations. Game players take on the role of a Summoner who conjures and controls champions to fight for them at the Institute of War. During game play champions gain experience and items to enhance their skills and abilities. How players develop and play their champions can be the difference between a crushing defeat or a glorious victory!